Writing papers

[branco56]

I'm in the process of writing a literature search and review paper on Influenza virus for my ssm and I have no clue how to go about it. I can do searches on medline but I don't know how to write a review and didn't get much help from my tutor. Any tips on literature search and reviews?

[chicken66]

umm thoughts that come to mind are of how i did my dissertation
- search loads of papers using web of science (i used google but you have to be aware of where the papers came from). Look through the refs for each paper that'll find you more papers.
- write down all the topics that you need to write around (ie drift and shift, mixing pots, historical impact, animals etc) and then write paragraphs around that. Put them all together in a linked fashion and write a intro/conclusion

It worked for me....good luck
x

[branco56]

Originally Posted by chicken66

umm thoughts that come to mind are of how i did my dissertation
- search loads of papers using web of science (i used google but you have to be aware of where the papers came from). Look through the refs for each paper that'll find you more papers.
- write down all the topics that you need to write around (ie drift and shift, mixing pots, historical impact, animals etc) and then write paragraphs around that. Put them all together in a linked fashion and write a intro/conclusion

It worked for me....good luck
x

Thanx.

[Fried_Rice]

And look at other examples of literature reviews that exist on the same topic that you are doing. While you obviously can't plagiarise there's nothing wrong with looking at what they cover and what references they use for inspiration. I used that sort of method when I wrote a brief literature review assignment last year.

Also make sure to check the cochrane library as those are the "gold-standard" meta-analyses, in case they have something that is relevant.

Good Luck!

[branco56]

Originally Posted by Fried_Rice

And look at other examples of literature reviews that exist on the same topic that you are doing. While you obviously can't plagiarise there's nothing wrong with looking at what they cover and what references they use for inspiration. I used that sort of method when I wrote a brief literature review assignment last year.

Also make sure to check the cochrane library as those are the "gold-standard" meta-analyses, in case they have something that is relevant.

Good Luck!

Thanx Fried Rice

[kiya]

I think it's an excellent idea to look at other reviews that have been published. After teaching myself statistics, I had to look at original papers in journals to find out the best way of presenting them as I hadn't got a clue. Using other reviews for form and style is extremely useful and I would suggest focusing on reviews of everything but the topic you're doing - that way you can't even unintentionally plagiarise.

As for searching, I always start with the BMJ and work from there. Just make sure you keep your search really narrow and specific.

The way I do all this definitely works - I had a paper published in the BJGP in November 06.

Good luck!

[branco56]

Originally Posted by branco56

Thanx Fried Rice

Cheers!

[branco56]

Actually my project is meant to be carried out as a literature search and report. Is there much of a difference between a literature report and review? I'm sorry, I know this question sounds very basic however I'm more of an exam freak than a coursework person.

[Fried_Rice]

No I think those two sound pretty much like the same thing. That is what a literature review is, they search the literature and write a report reviewing the results.

I'm not 100% though, but sounds very very similar.

[Arch_Angel]

All you've got to do is get a very general feel for where you want to go with it and reference everything you say.

I did one on interferon therapy recently and ended up with thirty odd references for a page of text. Remember that your ability to bring related lit. together and produce a decent report is being tested, so although obviously compostion is important what they are really looking for is your ability to be given a topic and find out as much as possible and put it across in a decent (and concise) way.

I can't see any difference, but if you've doubt, email whoever's set it. They won't mind you asking about the format.